Though Controversial And Misunderstood, Irradiated Edibles May Be The Food Of The Future For Atomic Age Appetites

October 17, 1984|by DIANE STONEBACK, The Morning Call

The formal luncheon invitation sounded intriguing: Anyone interested in the foods of the future could get a taste of tomorrow.

Although the menu sounded ordinary enough - shrimp and pork shish kebobs with green pepper, tomato and mushrooms; tomato with broccoli puree; chicken tarragon; green and gold rice pilaf and fresh strawberries served with cream - this was to be a most unusual lunch, one not to be found anywhere else on earth.

After all, it isn't every day that one is offered a meal consisting solely of irradiated foods.

That's a long way from simple flame-broiling, sauteeing or braising.

Those of us who had accepted the invitations had some misgivings as we assembled in the penthouse suite of the Time-Life Building in New York City. Should we break for the elevator, zoom some 40 stories and run out for Nathan's hot dogs rather than risk eating the futuristic food? We - all representatives of the media - steeled our nerves and broke the tension with occasional comments. "Will we glow in the dark by the time we finish dessert?" "Will we tick like human time bombs?" "I suppose they (the sponsors) want us to write a glowing report." "What I won't do for a story!"

Because many of us had boned up on irradiation before the luncheon, we knew the Food and Drug Administration is proposing regulations that would enable food processors to irradiate some spices and fruits and vegetables.

We knew the World Health Organization advocates this preservation procedure as one way to ease worldwide food shortages.

And we also were aware that the American Council on Science and Health concluded, "All of the evidence indicates that consumers have nothing to fear from irradiated foods, but instead can look forward to a greater variety of high-quality food products if this process comes into use in the United States."

But we had to admit surprise when our hosts, proponents of peacetime applications for nuclear energy, called irradiation "the biggest breakthrough in food processing since canning was invented or since Clarence Birdseye suggested freezing as a form of food preservation."

Eliminating insects from fruits, vegetables and spices is only the beginning of irradiation's potential according to the array of nuclear scientists assembled for the luncheon.

They listed a few of irradiation's possible future applications:

- It could take the place of contested fumigants like ethylene dibromide.

- It could rid pork of trichina spiralis, the cause of trichinosis.

- It could rid chicken of salmonella.

- It could eliminate the need for some chemical additives used as preservatives. Ham, lunch meats and bacon, for instance, can be processed without nitrites which can form nitrosamines (suspected carcinogens).

- It could destroy microorganisms and delay the spoilage of highly perishable fresh fish as well as meats and poultry.

- It could mean more food for more parts of the world. It's estimated that one-third of the world's food supply is lost through spoilage. In Third-World countries, grains treated with irradiation to eliminate insects, and then stored carefully, will last longer.

But despite all the promise, not everyone is ready to forsake fresh foods, frozen peas or even canned soups for such a radically different form of food processing.

Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Kathleen Tucker of the Health & Energy Institute and Robert Rodale of Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, are among those who do not describe the process in such glowing terms.

Whether panned or praised, the process of irradiating foods, called the Rip Van Winkle of food processing, is a technological sleeper. It has been awaiting its time for years.

The U.S. Army, believing that irradiated foods look and taste better than old-fashioned rations to troops on the march, has been experimenting with the process for 40 years.

The astronauts have been eating irradiated foods since Apollo 17 10 years ago.

Citizens of more than 20 other countries have been eating some irradiated foods and have even paid a premium price for the privilege of having foods that last longer without spoiling.)

A sampling of the expanding worldwide menu of foods preserved by radiation: fresh strawberries in Belgium, potatoes in Japan, rice pudding in Russia, papaya in South Africa, shrimp in Australia, ryebread in Holland, onions in France, cod fillets in Canada.

And now, the table is being set in the United States. Rip Van Winkles all over the country are waking up, thanks to rumblings about possibly carcinogenic fumigants and chemical additives used on the nation's food supply.

Many experts are beginning to give irradiation more than a passing look because it can replace some of the materials now used to preserve or protect from insect or microbiological damage.